CornBelters Hold on, Beat Southern Illinois Miners 5-4
June 18, 2012 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
MARION, Ill. - The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, held off another furious ninth-inning rally to take a 5-4 win over the Southern Illinois Miners on Monday night at Rent One Park. The win is the Belters' third straight over the second-place Miners, their fourth on the road and clinches their second series win.
The CornBelters opened the offense in the first inning with a lead-off bunt single from Alvaro Ramirez, who went to third on a Pat McKenna double and scored on a ground out to give Normal a 1-0 lead.
The Miners took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Cannon Lester walked with one out followed by a single by Sean Harrell, and both were sent home with a double to deep left-center by Sean Coughlin.
The Belters tied the game at 2-2 on a towering home run to left-center by Pat Trettel to lead off the fifth. Normal continued the scoring in that frame when Chico Gomez singled with one out followed by a walk to Pat Dockendorf. Ramirez singled home Gomez, and Dockendorf scored on a ground out to give the Belters a 4-2 lead in the fifth.
Normal added a run with the second RBI of the game for Ramirez, who plated Jordan Stouffer with two outs in the seventh to increase the Belters' lead to 5-2.
The Miners rallied in the ninth for the second straight night. Belters closer Marshall Schuler did not record an out in the four batters he faced, giving up a double and two singles while another runner reached via error. Singles by Sean Coughlin and pinch hitter Ken Gregory scored both runner and ended the night for Schuler. With the tying run at third and the winning run at first, reliever Rich Mascheri recorded an infield popup and two strikeouts to end the game.
Tyler Lavigne (2-1) earned the win in his seven-inning appearance, in which he gave up four hits and five walks while striking out four. Mascheri recorded all three outs in the ninth for his third save. Shawn Gilblair (3-2) took the loss.
The CornBelters conclude the brief road trip on Tuesday night as left-hander Jacob Liedka (1-1, 2.96 ERA) makes his third start against Miners right-hander Darren Tew (0-0, 3.22 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with a WJBC.com pre-game at 6:50. The CornBelters return home for a three-game series against the Rockford RiverHawks on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. More information is available by calling 309-454-BALL (2255) or by visiting www.normalbaseball.com.
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